is a

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

-based

Japanese new religion Japanese new religions are new religious movements established in Japan. In Japanese, they are called or . Japanese scholars classify all religious organizations founded since the middle of the 19th century as "new religions"; thus, the term refe ...

founded by in 1920. Shinto Tenkokyo has several

shrines A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daemon, or similar figure of respect, wh ...

(''jinja'' 神社) on Mount Iwaki or ''Iwaki-yama'' ( 石城山) in Hikari,

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). ...

. Its headquarters is located at the southern base of the mountain in

Tabuse 270px, Umashima is a town located in Kumage District, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 14,411 in 6947 households and a population density of 290 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Geography ...

History

In 1920, the predecessor of the current organization was founded as in Shizuoka by Tomokiyo Yoshisane, who had been a magazine editor for

Oomoto file:Chouseiden.jpg, 200px, ''Chōseiden'' (長生殿) in Ayabe, Kyoto, Ayabe , also known as , is a religion founded in the 1890s by Nao Deguchi, Deguchi Nao (1836–1918) and Onisaburo Deguchi, Deguchi Onisaburō (1871–1948). Oomoto is typ ...

from 1918 and 1919. The organization, later renamed Shintō Tenkōkyo, was registered in 1922. In 1928, Tomokiyo moved Shintō Tenkōkyo from Shizuoka to

and constructed several shrines on Mount Iwaki in 1930.

Rituals

Shintō Tenkōkyo considers its rituals to be a continuation of Ko-Shintō. Every November, Shintō Tenkōkyo organizes a nighttime ritual ceremony (山上夜間特別修法) for "universal harmony and world spiritualization" (万有和合・世界霊化). Followers recite the "Ten Prayers" (十言神咒) in dedication to

Amaterasu , often called Amaterasu () for short, also known as and , is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (''kami'') of the Shinto pantheon, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the () ...

. A key focus of its activities is , which was practiced extensively during World War II in order to pray for the protection of the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

. The religion also practices (), a

spirit possession Spirit Possession is an altered state of consciousness and associated behaviors which are purportedly caused by the control of a human body and its functions by Supernatural#Spirit, spirits, ghosts, demons, angels, or Deity, gods. The concept ...

technique devised by and subsequently transmitted by his disciple , that is also practiced in

and

Ananaikyo is a Shinto-based (Japanese new religion) derived from Oomoto. Ananaikyo was established by on April 1949 in Shimizu, Shizuoka. It is currently headquartered in Yokosuka in Kakegawa, Shizuoka. History The religion's founder was 1887–1974) ...

. Shintō Tenkōkyo's practice of ''chinkon kishin'' still adheres closely to the original form as taught by Honda Chikaatsu during the 19th century. Today, ''chinkon kishin'' is strictly reserved for Shintō Tenkōkyo members and is not open to the general public. Another ritual in Shintō Tenkōkyo is (). According to Tomokiyo, he received this ritual on October 28, 1920 during a ''kishin'' session with the kami, Ame no Uzume. The sun goddess

is the main deity worshipped. is a prayer in which the ten syllables of are pronounced as many times.

Texts

Shintō Tenkōkyo's main religious text is (), a multiple-volume anthology of writings by , the religion's founder. There are three editions: *The Iwakiyama edition (石城山版) was published 1955 and 1974 and consists of 5 volumes. 3 more volumes containing letters and other materials had been planned, but were never published. *The Sangensha (参玄社) edition was published in 1988 and 1989 and consists of 6 volumes, with 4 more volumes planned before Sangensha went bankrupt. *The Hachiman Shoten (八幡書店) edition was published beginning in 2004, with 8 volumes total. In October 1919, Tomokiyo published , a monograph about ''chinkon kishin''. After it quickly sold out, it was revised as in May 1920. This revised version is included in the first volume of ''Tomokiyo Yoshisane zenshū'' as published by Hachiman in 2004. The full text of ''Shintō montai'' (真道問対) by Honda Chikaatsu is attached at the end of ''Chinkon kishin no gokui'' (鎮魂帰神の極意). The text consists of 114 questions from

Soejima Taneomi Count was a diplomat and statesman during early Meiji period Japan. Life and career Soejima was born into a ''samurai'' family in Saga, in Hizen Province (present-day Saga Prefecture). His father was a teacher in the domain's school and a scho ...

, along with answers from Honda, in

literary Chinese Classical Chinese is the language in which the classics of Chinese literature were written, from . For millennia thereafter, the written Chinese used in these works was imitated and iterated upon by scholars in a form now called Literary ...

. is a synopsis of Tomokiyo's main teachings and contains two chapters about ''chinkon kishin''. Originally published in August 1921, it is included in the first volume of all editions of ''Tomokiyo Yoshisane zenshū'' (友清歓真全集).

Shrines

Shintō Tenkōkyo's shrines are located on Mount Iwaki (石城山), located to the north of the town of

. The religion pronounces the name of the mountain as ''Iwaki-yama'', but outside the religion the conventional pronunciation is ''Iwaki-san''. It is the most sacred mountain of Shintō Tenkōkyo and is considered to be the earthly representation of the heavenly gathering place of the gods, similar to

's treatment of Mount Hongū in

Ayabe Ayabe (Japanese:綾部) may refer to: Places *Ayabe, Kyoto, a city in the Kyoto Prefecture. * Ayabe Domain, a feudal domain in Japan during the Edo period * Mount Ayabe, a mountain in Tatsuno, Hyōgo, Japan People * Kakeru Ayabe (綾部翔, born ...

. Going clockwise from south and west to north and east, the Shintō Tenkōkyo shrines on Iwaki-yama are: * * (main shrine; large building) * * * * * (large building) Iwakisan Kōgoishi ( 石城山神籠石), the ruins of an ancient castle, is located to the northeast of the Shinto Tenkokyo shrine cluster. To the west, Iwaki Jinja ( 石城神社) and its affiliated auxiliary shrines (''

setsumatsusha and , also called Iwanami Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version. (collectively known as The term ''setsumatsusha'' is the combination of the two terms ''sessha'' and ''massha''.) are small or miniature shrines entrusted to the c ...

'' 摂末社) predate the Shinto Tenkokyo shrines. Iwaki Jinja's auxiliary shrines are (clockwise from south and west to north and east): * (just east of ) * * * * * (just south of )

References

External links

* {{Japanese new religions Japanese new religions Religious organizations based in Japan Shinto new religious movements Organizations based in Yamaguchi Prefecture Tabuse, Yamaguchi Hikari, Yamaguchi Religious organizations established in 1920 1920 establishments in Japan Religions derived from Oomoto